In immediately’s ever-changing local weather of wildly fluctuating element prices, all-in-one computer systems, or AIOs for brief, stay as viable as ever. In-built the identical vein as its line of laptops, Lenovo’s IdeaCentre AIO 3i (begins at $529; $599 as examined) is productivity-focused, with some helpful inputs that even embody a DVD drive, an addition long-lost in lots of gadgets immediately. A better look below the hood reveals typical budget-machine trappings, like a low-end Pentium processor with built-in graphics, although that is intriguingly propped up by a cool 16GB of reminiscence and a 1TB SSD, each good provides on this value vary. Lenovo provides quite a lot of configurations with variations on the theme (much less reminiscence, a tough drive as a substitute of an SSD), however we like this one, and with the fitting components combine, the IdeaCentre is a wonderful funds AIO if you happen to’re trying to affordably improve your house workplace, incomes it our Editors’ Selection award for funds AIOs.
Catch This 22-Incher
Wrapped in all matte black plastic, the IdeaCentre AIO 3i is a compact machine, consisting of only a 22-inch show resting upon a small stand. The stand is even full with an indent to maintain your mouse, spare change, keys, or small workplace provides out of the best way.
Merely put, the pc holds up a reasonably respectable show right here, with surprisingly skinny bezels on all sides that do a good job of maximizing your display area. Neither swivel nor top adjustment is obtainable right here, however the monitor permits for a wholesome tilt for vertical changes.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
The lion’s share of the AIO’s ports is discovered on its bottom. There, you’ll discover 4 USB ports: two 2.0 ports and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (all Kind-A), an Ethernet jack, an influence connector, and an HDMI output. However that’s not all—on the prime, you’ll discover the webcam, which may be pulled out and in of the monitor housing like a cartridge on a Sega Genesis.
Additional to the left, you’ll discover the throwback DVD optical disc drive. Just a little decrease, you’ll discover a small rubber cowl on the left nook that hides a 3.5mm port for headphones. Positive, a higher-resolution webcam, a Blu-ray drive, and even USB-C ports would’ve actually sweetened the deal, however what’s right here is sort of acceptable on a funds AIO.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
The 22-inch show is straightforward to deal with, at simply 22 kilos and 15.9 by 19.3 by 7.3 inches (HWD). It’s positively heavier than our bigger-screen prime AIO decide from a couple of years again, the HP Pavilion 24 AIO, and so far as 22-inch AIOs go, it is also quite a lot of kilos heftier than the HP Chromebase All-In-One 22. Nonetheless, this Lenovo AIO is hardly unmanageable.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
Our $599 overview configuration comes full with an Intel Pentium Gold 7505 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, in addition to the DVD drive, Home windows 11, and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Lenovo flogs about 10 totally different configurations that vary from as little as $529 to as excessive as $800. The highest choice features a whopping 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, however the processor and built-in graphics stay the identical.
A fast phrase on the Pentium Gold processor: So far as CPUs are involved, the Pentium sequence is near the underside rung of Intel’s processors, down close to the Intel Celeron chips (the very lowest-end) and AMD’s Athlons. You possibly can’t anticipate a lot from these components (which we’ll get into in our benchmarking evaluation), however paired with an SSD and a very good quantity of RAM, you may observe some improved efficiency, a minimum of as productiveness is concerned. Don’t anticipate any superior gaming or video enhancing from this machine, although. That is simply not what it is constructed for.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
Two downward-firing, 3-watt audio system present respectable sound with out shedding an excessive amount of high quality at increased ranges. They’re loud, with out the tinny screech or chassis-shaking suggestions you would possibly discover in lower-end funds laptops or Chromebooks. The included keyboard and mouse work higher than I anticipated, as nicely.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
The complete-size keyboard is light-weight, with outward folding ft for some added grip and elevation, and the mouse is your fundamental compact two-clicker with a tiny scroll wheel within the middle. Its plastic ft really work nicely on a number of surfaces. The glide is far smoother than say, the latest Dell Bluetooth Journey Mouse we not too long ago reviewed.
A First rate Show and a Reliable Quantity of Reminiscence
As you’ll have already surmised, the advantage of an AIO over your typical desktop is the truth that the AIO comes with a monitor, and the IdeaCentre comes with a quite efficient one for its value. Lenovo states that the complete HD (1,920-by-1,080) anti-glare IPS show places out 250 nits of brightness (a declare we’ll problem in our benchmarking part beneath).
There are even touch-screen variants, for customers who would possibly want it. With out wanting too deeply, nonetheless, it’s completely wonderful for YouTube movies and DVD motion pictures. There aren’t any show settings connected to the monitor, and there’s no HDMI in, so you may’t plug in a sport console to play on this AIO.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
In use, the additional RAM permits for a number of apps to run directly with out a lot slowdown, and that’s seemingly all you would possibly want: Spreadsheets, emails, and your Twitter (or Mastadon feed) are all simply managed.
Whereas the display area is likely to be smaller than you’d get on a mainstream funds monitor (yow will discover completely wonderful 24-inch stand-alone panels for below $150), the compact nature of the AIO is ideal for tight areas, cluttered flats, and micro workplaces. Video and audio are additionally very dependable, and the variety of ports is welcome. Total, the IdeaCentre AIO 3i is a formidable worth with its 16GB/1TB tandem of RAM and SSD —however what occurs if you examine it with its contemporaries?
Testing the Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 3i: It is All About Perspective
In Lenovo’s personal lineup of IdeaCentres, there are various funds choices to select from—so why an AIO and never a standard tower desktop? Do you not need to fear about including laptop equipment, like a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse? Then the all-in-one choice is for you (therefore the title). Do you want the concept of swapping equipment, and even popping the desktop open to make upgrades? The best way of the basic tower-style desktop is probably going for you.
At any fee, to see how Lenovo’s IdeaCentre AIO 3i compares to different funds contenders, we stacked it up in opposition to each AIOs and a few low-cost mini PCs for a extra full image of its place within the resolution.
Additional to the purpose, AIO releases are pretty few and much between, and our benchmark suite has modified pretty not too long ago, so we simply don’t have numbers to precisely examine with AIOs solely. All the machines listed below are equally priced and geared up with entry-level gear in the identical ballpark as each other. Maintain that in thoughts as we parse the main points.
Productiveness Checks
Our first two checks are arguably an important: UL’s PCMark 10 places the CPU by means of its paces, simulating quite a lot of real-world productiveness and content-creation workflows to measure general efficiency for office-centric duties akin to phrase processing, spreadsheeting, net searching, and video conferencing. We additionally run PCMark 10’s Full System Drive take a look at to evaluate the load time and throughput of a desktop’s storage.
To additional stress the CPU, our subsequent two benchmarks are Maxon’s Cinebench R23, which makes use of the corporate’s Cinema 4D engine to render a fancy scene, and Primate Labs’ Geekbench 5.4 Professional, which simulates in style apps starting from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine studying.
Lastly, we run Puget Programs’ PugetBench for Photoshop, which makes use of the Inventive Cloud model 22 of Adobe’s picture editor to fee a PC’s efficiency for content material creation and multimedia functions.
The IdeaCentre holds its personal right here. It doesn’t fairly attain the highest of the scoreboard, but it surely doesn’t fall too far behind both, besting the Geekom Mini Desktop and the Asus M241. In PCMark 10, a quantity between 4,000 and 5,000 is right and signifies wonderful productiveness in on a regular basis apps, like Phrase and Excel. To this finish, the IdeaCentre falls brief, however not by a lot. The Full System Drive take a look at rating is much less optimum, because the IdeaCentre solely pulls a measly 444 factors. The solid-state drive provides numerous capability for a funds SSD, however it’s clearly a slower selection.
Neither CPU benchmark proves to be a winner for the IdeaCentre right here, as they each reap the benefits of the a number of cores of a CPU. The Intel Pentium Gold 7505 consists of a paltry two cores, so it merely can’t sustain with demanding content material creation work. That stated, neither can most funds machines and in addition to—if you happen to had been doing any of that work, you’d be higher off with a Mac or a devoted content-creation desktop anyway. That is additionally made evident by the IdeaCentre’s PugetBench rating. That is simply not what a Pentium CPU is about.
Graphics Checks
The IdeaCentre makes use of built-in Intel graphics, which have come a good distance in recent times. Reality be instructed, the chance that you simply’ll be enjoying any graphically intensive video games on the IdeaCentre is low, however because of Xbox Recreation Go integration on Home windows 11, it is by no means been simpler to play in your laptop.
To not be outdone, we run two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark: Night time Raid (extra modest, appropriate for PCs with built-in graphics) and Time Spy (extra demanding, appropriate for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs). We additionally run two OpenGL benchmarks from the cross-platform GFXBench, run offscreen to accommodate totally different show resolutions.
The IdeaCentre scores on par with typical UHD Graphics on each 3DMark checks. The AIO seemingly can deal with some very low-end browser gaming and even streaming; simply don’t anticipate something like excessive body charges in video games that want actual rendering. Sadly, we’re unable to run the GFXBench checks on the pc (a battle with the take a look at, not any deficiency).
Show Brightness and Colour Checks
Lastly, utilizing a Datacolor SpyderX Elite calibration instrument, we examined the show in its default image mode with an SDR sign and got here away pretty impressed with the outcomes. The IdeaCentre delivers a peak brightness of 269 nits and a black degree of 0.32, yielding a distinction ratio of 840:1—decrease distinction means brighter or grayer blacks and a extra washed-out image. Total, these outcomes are higher than some 1080p gaming screens we’ve reviewed not too long ago, together with ViewSonic’s VX1755.
Switching to the SpyderX Elite colour gamut testing, the IdeaCentre manages 96% protection of the sRGB palette, 75% of Adobe RGB, and 76% of DCI-P3. Stable colour vary and accuracy, particularly for a display that’s most likely an afterthought for many potential patrons.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
Verdict: An Ace Price range AIO, if You Get the Proper Bits
This Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO does lots proper, delivering sufficient efficiency for its value level in addition to some nifty extras, like a webcam, disc drive, and 4 extra USB ports. Whereas we’re maybe extra lenient about its shortcomings due to its value and our take a look at mannequin’s beneficiant quantity of RAM and SSD, there’s positively worth right here. In reality, a few of its shortcomings may be circumvented with some exterior {hardware}.
Are there higher AIOs? After all; see the HP Envy 34 AIO for one huge instance. However if you happen to’re trying to seize an reasonably priced laptop, peripherals included, for web searching, workplace work, and film watching (maybe straight from a DVD!), and are cool with the caveats of a funds machine, the IdeaCentre AIO 3i is price shortlisting. That earns it our Editors’ Selection award as the perfect all-in-one desktop for terribly tight budgets.
Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 3i 4.0 Editors’ Selection (Opens in a brand new window) See It $679.49 at Amazon (Opens in a brand new window) Base Configuration Value $529.00 Execs Stable display for the cash
Bundled mouse and keyboard
First rate audio system
Loads of ports View Extra Cons No USB-C ports
Lackluster CPU efficiency The Backside Line An all-in-one PC choice for budget-strapped patrons, Lenovo’s IdeaCentre AIO 3i will get sufficient proper to be tops in its low-cost class.
